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NEWS ABOUT: mining

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Californian Busted for Lucrative Illegal Gold Mine

Sierra Nevada digger hit with environmental charges

(Newser) - California authorities aren't buying landowner Joseph Hardesty's excuse that he is merely running a gravel business from a Gold Rush-era mine in a gold-rich part of the state. Authorities in El Dorado County say he is running one of the most blatantly illegal gold-mining operations ever seen in... More »

The Dirty Secret Inside Your Prius

'Rare earth' mining can hurt the environment

(Newser) - So, you bought a Prius or know someone who has. Beautiful. But look under the hood and you'll find some neodymium, one of the "rare earth" minerals that help run all kinds of green technology—and other high-tech stuff like smartphones and flat-screen TVs. So far so good,... More »

25 Dead in Ukraine Mining Accidents

Two separate incidents highlight safety lapses

(AP) - Rescue workers have found five more bodies at two Ukrainian coal mines where accidents occurred, raising the death toll to 25. Twelve other miners remain missing. The accidents in the eastern region shocked the country and highlighted the dangers of the nation's mining industry. It is believed to be... More »

Major Ocean Mineral Find Could Transform High-Tech

Mineral trove vital for industry at bottom of Pacific Ocean

(Newser) - Japanese scientists have discovered mammoth deposits of rare earth minerals—essential in the manufacture of many high-tech devices—at the depths of the Pacific Ocean, reports Reuters . The find could transform the international market for these vital materials. Discovered as deep as 20,000 feet at 78 locations, particularly around... More »

China Accidents Trap 40 Miners

Cave-in and flood hit separate mines

(AP) - A coal mine flood in southwestern China trapped 21 miners underground, while a cave-in at another mine today killed at least three workers and left 19 others sealed off, officials said. Rescuers scrambled to reach the miners at the Niupeng coal mine in the county of Pingtang in Guizhou province... More »

Underground Acid Lake Threatens Johannesburg

City needs millions to pump toxic water from mines

(Newser) - Johannesburg is frantically attempting to procure millions of dollars for a new pumping station, before a rising tide of toxic mine water seeps into the city’s streets. Abandoned mine shafts in and around the city have filled up with ground water, which oxidizes with the metals within the mines,... More »

Did Pentagon Use the Times to Hype its Afghan Auction?

Timing of miracle minerals story fishy

(Newser) - There has been much grousing about the New York Times’ non-scoop on Afghanistan’s trillion-dollar mineral deposits. Most people figured the Pentagon spoon-fed the paper the story to drum up public support for the war. But now it looks like it may have been trying to drum up customers, says... More »

Real-Life Avatar Unfolds in India

Tribe battles to stop mining of their sacred mountain

(Newser) - Take away the six-legged lemurs, the banshees, and the moon of Pandora, and the plot of Avatar sounds a lot like the mining battle playing out in real life in the Indian state of Orissa. There, indigenous tribespeople are fighting to stop a mining company from extracting bauxite from the... More »

Dow Up 85; Alcoa, Intel Rally

Mining giants Bucyrus, Terex to merge

(Newser) - Stocks saw broad gains today as analysts upgraded blue chips Alcoa and Intel and big mergers were announced in the mining and health-care sectors, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The Dow rose 85.25 points to close at 10,414.14.
  • The Nasdaq added 25.97, ending the session at
... More »

$20M Diamond Found

Egg-sized diamond ranks among the highest quality gems ever discovered

(Newser) - A giant diamond experts believe ranks among the top 20 gems ever found has been unearthed at a South African mine. The egg-sized, 500-carat sparkler was found at the same mine where the biggest diamond in history, the Cullinan, was found in the 19th century. The diamond is being analyzed... More »

Amazon Indians Win Repeal of Land Grab Laws

Decision hailed as major victory for indigenous people

(Newser) - Peru's Congress has revoked two laws that led to bloody clashes between police and indigenous protesters, CNN reports. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of ditching the laws that opened up the country's Amazon region to mining, logging, and oil companies. Dozens of people died earlier this month when police moved... More »

Macabre Tourists Flock to Mummy Museum

Mexican exhibit includes 56 fully preserved corpses

(Newser) - A Mexican museum tells the story of the local mining industry with an unusual exhibit: 56 mummified corpses. The bodies, from as early as the mid-1800s, were removed from crypts that had been tightly sealed, allowing the bodies to dry intact. Elsewhere mummies might be considered freaky, but in Guanajuato,... More »

Stocks Bounce, Dow Up 150

Optimism on Chinese stimulus felt around the world

(Newser) - Stocks made gains today as a rally in China’s Shanghai Composite lifted several sectors, the Wall Street Journal reports. Optimism over further stimulus efforts by Beijing lifted shares of firms in manufacturing, mining, and technology stocks around the world on hope of increased Chinese demand. The Dow Jones rose... More »

Road to Electric Cars Runs Through Bolivia

Nationalism, socialism may make its lithium supply hard to tap

(Newser) - Are we about to replace our dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on foreign lithium? Almost half the world’s supply of the mineral—essential for the light, rechargeable batteries electric cars need—is found in Bolivia, where nationalist sentiment is running high, the New York Times reports. Evo... More »

Miner Rio Tinto Cuts 14,000 Jobs

Plan to reduce debt $10B also means cuts in spending on exploration

(Newser) - Global mining firm Rio Tinto will cut 14,000 jobs and scale back spending on exploration, reports the BBC, in a bid to slash its $40 billion debt 25% by 2010. The miner, the third largest in the world, said the “rapidity and severity of the global economic downturn"... More »

Slowdown Puts Mining Outfits in Deep Hole

China's drop in demand further drives down commodities

(Newser) - Mining companies are shutting down production, laying off workers, and trying to sell excess product as the global economic slowdown drills into the industry’s profits, reports the Wall Street Journal. Metal prices dropped a record 35% last month, and nearly every mineral has been hit. Mining, once an economic... More »

Arctic Boom Awash in Green Risk

Rush to tap vast mineral riches will tax area dearly without needed infrastructure

(Newser) - As the Arctic sea ice melts, it’s uncovering vast resources, leading to an international energy and mining rush. Companies are lining up to explore the region, and nations are reviving Arctic border disputes in hopes of tapping its wealth. But the exploitation of the area’s resources could have... More »

Clinton Helped Crony Land Mining Deal

After trip to Kazakhstan, buddy tapped uranium, Bill's charity got $31M

(Newser) - Two days after former president Bill Clinton took pal and mining mogul Frank Giustra to meet Kazakhstan's de facto dictator, Giustra landed a monster contract to mine uranium with state-run mining company Kazatomprom, the New York Times reports—despite his firm’s lack of relevant experience. Shortly thereafter, Clinton’s... More »

Mining Mergers May Take Page From Big Oil

Proposed consolidation could drive commodity prices even higher

(Newser) - When Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton announced its bid to merge with archrival Rio Tinto, the Wall Street Journal got déjà vu. The deal, which would combine the world’s largest and third-largest miners, looks a lot like the late-'90s megamergers that produced today’s Big Oil titans. “... More »

Mugabe Seizes Platinum and Diamond Mines

Takeover likely to kill all remaining foreign investment

(Newser) - Zimbabwe's catastrophic economic situation got still worse yesterday as Robert Mugabe announced a new law giving the government controlling stakes in the country's platinum and diamond mines. The Times of London writes that the state may now take control of 51% of all mining companies and has to pay for... More »

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